Precast concrete slabs provide convenience to contractors and builders since precast concrete slabs can be manufactured offsite. Instead of pouring concrete onsite and waiting for the concrete to cure, builders can buy or manufacture as many precast concrete slabs as needed, then install them onsite, which reduces the time required to put a concrete slab in place. Precast concrete slabs can be used in a variety of projects including buildings, bridges, and even roads. A section of road may be cut out around a pothole, and then a precast concrete slab is lowered in place to quickly repair the pothole or other defect in the road.
One issue with using precast concrete slabs to repair roads is that the precast concrete slab must be level with the other portions of the road. A misaligned precast concrete slab can wear a tire or even cause heavy damage to a vehicle. One attempt to solve this issue may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,875,471 and 9,003,720 to Baltazar, which are incorporated herein in their entireties by reference. These patents describe a system whereby a sleeve is embedded in a precast concrete slab, and the sleeve extends through the concrete slab. A bolt is threaded into the sleeve, and a top end of the bolt has an eyelet that allows builders to transport and lower the precast concrete slab in place. Then, the bolt may be driven in further into the sleeve so that a bottom end of the bolt extends through the sleeve and out of the bottom side of the slab. The bottom end of the bolt contacts a plate, which causes the entire concrete slab to rise. Once the precast concrete slab is in the proper alignment, grout is pumped underneath the slab to set the slab in place.
One shortcoming of the device in the Baltazar patents is that a single bolt is used to both transport the precast concrete slab and contact a plate underneath the concrete slab. Accordingly, the bolt must be long enough to extend through the entire concrete slab, and therefore, the bolt has a potential risk of buckling or being subjected to a large moment force as the eyelet or top of the bolt is lifted and moved by cables. Even having just one bolt buckle can hinder the ability of the precast concrete slab to align with a road surface. This results in a loss of time, which defeats the advantage of having a precast concrete slab. Therefore, there is a need for a device, a system, and/or a method for leveling a precast concrete slab that does not have a single continuous bolt that extends through the entire precast concrete slab.